Shaun Tsakiris, coach of Northern California club De Anza Force's U-14 boys team, was named U.S. Soccer Development Academy Coach of the Year for the West region. As a player, Tsakiris won the 1997 NCAA Division I title with UCLA and played in the 1999 U-20 World Cup, where his teammates included Tim Howard, Taylor Twellman and Carlos Bocanegra, and where he played against future stars such as Spain's Xavi and England's Ashley Cole. We checked in with Tsakiris to talk youth soccer in America.

I've said various things to the opposing coach during the postgame handshake:

When I was 15 years old, one of my soccer coaches, Gordon Barr (son of U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer George Barr) phoned me to ask if I would like to ref our local soccer club's intramural program. I thought who would want to become a referee? After all, the ref gets yelled at and is booed, so I declined.

The latest edition of our "When They Were Children" series provides a glimpse into the youth years of World Cup final hero Mario Goetze, who scored the goal that gave Germany its fourth world championship.

In light of Tim Howard's extraordinary performance at the 2014 World Cup, where he set a World Cup record with 16 saves in the round of 16 overtime loss to Belgium and set the record for most U.S. national team appearances for a goalkeeper at 104, the Youth Soccer Insider republishes this 2012 interview.